An NFL Media report indicates Mark Andrews isn’t expected to play on Sunday. If that’s the case, it could make Isaiah Likely the first key waiver move to the fantasy season.
Andrews is questionable on the team’s injury report with a quad injury. He was listed as questionable on the team’s injury report after being a limited participant in practice all week. Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero say he’s not expected to play.
The Ravens have an early kickoff tomorrow. If Andrews is inactive, it would elevate Isaiah Likely into the starting lineup, and he would become a candidate to post top-5 tight end numbers. He’s good. As a rookie, he had a 100-yard game in the preseason, then made the most of his limited opportunities in the real games. When Andrews got hurt at Tampa Bay, Likely caught 6 passes for 77 yards and a touchdown filling in, then scored again the next week.
Andrews also started the Week 18 game at Cincinnati (with a bunch of regulars sitting out) and caught 8 passes for 103 yards. He might be better than half of the starting tight ends in the league, and Lamar Jackson is most comfortable throwing in the middle of the field.
Slight variable here is Charlie Kolar. The Ravens actually drafted him before Likely last year. Kolar missed most of his rookie season with injuries, but he looked pretty good in the preseason, with a couple of impact catches. I expect he’ll also play some and catch some balls.
General feel is that teams looking for a tight end (such as everyone who had Andrews) should be filing late waiver claims for Isaiah Likely for Week 1.
—Ian Allan